News
B&B Looking For Mature Australian Actress To Play Recurring Role!

Courtesy/CBS
The Bold and the Beautiful may just be bringing in the mother of Ivy Forrester (Ashleigh Brewer) to the canvas, if speculation is correct.
According to Soap Opera Digest, the CBS soap and international hit series, is looking to cast a woman 50-60 years old, who must be Australian.
The casting call is for the character known as “Claire”, and is expected to be filled shortly, and to tape within a few weeks. Brewer herself mentioned in an interview with SOD, that Ivy’s mother had somewhat of a fear of flying, so if the character were ever to appear she would have to find another way to get to California!
So, who would you suggest for the role of “Claire”? Put your casting director hats on and give us your best suggestion!
Ivy’s mom ***IS*** named Claire – or at least, John called her that in a conversation with Eric. Of course, B&B conveniently forgot that Taylor’s surname was originally Ashford when they decided to change it to Hamilton, and that Jessica Forrester’s mom was originally said to be Hannah until Barbara Crampton came on as Maggie. Maybe they are getting it right this time?
Jessica Forrester??
Yes—she was played by Maitland Ward and her love interest was Dylan played by Dylan Neal.
Jessica is Ivy’s half sister, played by Maitland Ward on the show from 1994-1996. That was the first time John Forrester was ever mentioned. John and his wife were going through a rough patch in their marriage, so John sent his daughter, Jessica, to stay with her uncle Eric and aunt Stephanie in L.A. But they just sent her – they didn’t bother to call or anything. So Jessica showed up at the Forrester mansion and was shocked to find that Stephanie had no idea she was coming, or that Eric and Stephanie were divorced. (Eric was married to Sheila at the time.) Since Stephanie pretty much had the whole mansion to herself at the time, she allowed Jessica to stay with her rather than with Eric and Sheila.
John eventually called Eric and admitted that he had sent Jessica to L.A. because he and his wife were getting a divorce. Eric and Stephanie broke the news to Jessica, who got involved with much older Forrester employee Dylan Shaw.
After John and his wife divorced, his wife showed up in LA to reconnect with her daughter. The mother was originally referred to as Hannah in conversations between Eric and Stephanie, but when we met her, they said her name was Margaret, aka Maggie (played by Barbara Crampton).
After two years of ups and downs with Dylan, including a rivalry with her mom over him, Jessica left town to join her dad (who was living in England at the time). Maggie stayed around and married James Warwick, and they were part of a triangle with Sheila.
John eventually made his way to Australia after a couple of more marriages and met Ivy’s mom.
We never saw John in the flesh until Fred Willard showed up last year. John mentioned Maggie once, but he has not mentioned Jessica at all. So Ivy has a half sister, even though it’s been just shy of two decades since we have seen her!
Geraldine Turner, one of Australia’s premier actresses would be PERFECT!!!
I know it says Australian but i believe Leslie Ann Downs could play the part…lol
Was thinking the same thought!
Kylie Minogue!
Half the women from the exceptional to this day “Prisoner: Cell Block H”
Rachel Ward would be perfect She’s beautiful, she’s the right age and she is an Aussie.
Kimberlin Brown. She can do accents.
Emma Samms would be awesome. She’s so beautiful and well known around the world, which would only boost the show’s international popularity.
I agree!
Trishy Dishy was made for it
Olivia Newton John
What about Kim Zimmer?
Love that idea
Not that scene chewer.
crystal Chappell
Carmen Duncan comes to mind immediately.
Connie Nielsen is 50 & Danish. She had short run last year on THE GOOD WIFE as Peter Florrick’s mistress. Don’t know if she could do an Australian accent. But, she definitely has a cosmopolitan allure & can speak 8 languages.
jane badler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Badler
Three fine actresses from the Australian primetime soap, “A Place To Call Home” come to mind. First, there is lead Marta Dusseldorp (Sarah Adams) who possesses that tall, cool blonde, regal vibe…she is quite reminiscent of OLTL’s Jessica Tuck….There is also a set of striking brunettes: the vivacious Sara Wiseman who plays (Aunt) Carolyn Bligh and Jenni Baird who portrays the icy villainess (Aunt) Regina Standish. If the show is looking for a real battleaxe, there is also Noni Hazelhurst, who fills a killer role far older than her years as matriarch Elizabeth Bligh, but is also absolutely superb. This is a wonderful show set in the postwar/early 1950’s…all sorts of yummy storylines! I would highly recommend the program. At any rate, depending upon the “type” B&B is seeking, any of these ladies would do a bang-up job, although they are of various ages. However, due to the period drama cosmetics and costumes in which they feature, each perhaps tends to look more mature than today’s modern counterparts.
i think leslie anne down would be a good choice
ME!!!
GERALDINE TURNER WOULD BE A STAND OUT!!
Beyond the Gates
RATINGS: ‘Beyond the Gates’ Inches Closer to ‘General Hospital’ in Total Viewers

The latest ratings are out for the week of October 26-30, 2026 and the big takeaways include: that CBS daytime’s Beyond the Gates was separated by only 23,000 viewers behind third place (of the soaps) General Hospital! For the last several weeks, Beyond the Gates has been closing the gap on this year’s winner for Outstanding Daytime Drama Series, and continuing to best GH in the key demos.
According to the latest Nielsen ratings breakdown from Soap Opera Network, the final week of October brought Beyond the Gates 1.790 million on average tuning-in and the show set a season high in total viewers. Meanwhile, General Hospital hit a new season low! The long-running ABC soap had 1.813 million for the week, and once again the series did not go over the 2 million mark.
Meanwhile, in the key Women 18-49 demo, Beyond the Gates was firmly ahead of GH with a rating share of 0.21, while General Hospital had 0.17 rating share.Then, in the key Women 25-54 demo, Beyond the Gates was once again ahead of the ABC soap with a ratings share for that demo at 0.30 while GH came in with 0.26.

Photo: CBS
MORE BY THE NUMBERS
In addition and comparatively, Beyond the Gates +22,000 viewers week-to-week, and had the largest gains in viewership year-to-year in daytime TV with +267,000 from this in 2025.. However, General Hospital seems to be going in reverse. The show was down -56,000 viewers week-over-week and down -22,000 year-over-year .
BEYOND THE GATES
Let’s take a look at some of the storylines that had people tuning-in to Beyond the Gates during the ratings week:
Hayley (Marquita Goings) attempted a massive shocker regarding her pregnancy and tried to use it to extract money from Bill Hamilton (Timon Kyle Durrett). Although, Bill saw right through her game, he demanded a paternity test, and made it clear he has no intention of raising the child—planning instead to pay her off to take the baby and leave. Meanwhile, Hayley confided her plan to her cousin Randy (Maurice P. Kerry).
Jacob Hawthorne (Jibre Hordges) and Naomi Hamilton (Arielle Prepetit) clashed over Jacob’s ongoing investigation into The Impaler, causing significant strain in their marriage. At the same time, Smitty (Mike Manning) considered taking matters into his own hands—including potentially heading to Mexico for evidence—while Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon) worried about what comes next.

Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL
Over at General Hospital for the ratings period, the story served up included:
Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) teamed up to investigate what really happened to Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Later, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) leads them to Jack’s dead body.
Jude (Wil Traval) dropped a bombshell claim to Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn); that he is Phoebe’s father, while Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Chase (Josh Swickard) signed their divorce papers.
Then, Danny caught Rocco (Finn Carr) and Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarski) sharing a kiss, plus the shocking return of Heather Webber (Alley Mills) capped the week.
Now the questions become; without having much promotional synergy in the ABC day-part to draw more eyeballs it is not helping but hurting General Hospital. It seems Beyond the Gates is also a benefactor of a one-two-three punch of CBS soaps (Y&R, B&B and BTG) and promotion.
However, that still doesn’t take away the fact that Beyond the Gates is close to besting GH in all ratings category as they go head-to-head in some markets across the country.
So, are you excited to see Beyond the Gates climb in the ratings? Are you concerned for General Hospital? Do you think they can stave off Beyond the Gates in total viewers or will the upstart soap overtake them in the next ratings report? Share your thoughts in the comment section.
General Hospital
Antonio Sabáto Jr. Breaks Silence on His Son’s Arrest for Fatal Hit-and-Run

Antonio Sabáto Jr., the former Jagger Cates of General Hospital and GH: Night Shift, and the former Dante Damiano of The Bold and the Beautiful has issued his first public statement since the incident involving his son, Jack’s arrest in Alaska for a fatal hit-and-run.
Jack is the son of Sabáto Jr. and Oscar-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, and according to court documents obtained by KTUU Jack, was allegedly driving a white Chevy Tahoe when he hit and killed Carl Simmonds, 42, near an intersection in Anchorage around 5:35 a.m. on Monday, November 9.
The reports indicated that Jack fled the scene — but later decided to called the cops to say he hit “something” that “suddenly appeared in the road” while he was “doing late-night DoorDashing.”

Photo: NBC
Now, Antonio has taken to his Instagram breaking his silence on the situation, sharing, “At this time, my family and I are navigating an extremely sensitive and deeply personal matter.”
He added, “As a father, my love for my children remains unconditional, and my priority is the well-being of my family. We ask that the public and members of the media honor our privacy during this difficult time and keep us all in your thoughts and prayers.”
The soap alum concluded, “I also wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the family and loved ones of the gentleman who tragically lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with them as well. We sincerely appreciate your compassion, understanding, and respect for the privacy of everyone affected.”
Jack Sabáto was arraigned in court on Tuesday, November 10 with bail set at $5,000, and a no-driving order and the potential of $5,000 penalty fees if he fails to attend future court appearances.
Antonio is the father to Jack, 34, daughter, Mina Sabato, 24 and son, Antonio Sabáto III, 15.
This is a developing story. You can check out Antonio’s official statement below.
So, let us know your thoughts on this tragic hit-and-run, which claimed the life of another man, and Antonio’s statement, via the comment section below.
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Breaking News
‘Days of our Lives’ Veteran James Reynolds Reveals Parkinson’s Diagnosis
Days of our Lives long-running cast member James Reynolds revealed on the November 10 edition of Entertainment Tonight that he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and his character of Abe Carver will now be going through an on-screen Parkinson’s battle as well.
Speaking with ET’s Nischelle Turner, the 80-year-old actor and Daytime Emmy winner shared how he attempted to hide the warning signs dating back to 15-20 years ago when he would have, “What they call the hallucinations. My wife (Lissa) would say, ‘You were hitting me last night in bed,’ and I would say, ‘What?!’ I was having these really horrible dreams.” Reynolds also added that he realized falling out of bed was an early symptom of Parkinson’s too.
Discussing the on-going tremors that have become more noticeable over time especially in hands, James shared that when he finally told the Days of our Lives cast they were nothing but “extraordinarily helpful and supportive.”

Photo: ET
SCREEN LIFE TO MIRROR REAL LIFE
Now with DAYS about to launch into Abe’s Parkinson’s storyline, Reynolds hopes that he can turn his experience into something positive by encouraging others facing the disease to keep fighting. During the sit-down, Reynolds co-star Jackée Harry (Paulina Price) recalls her reaction to learning of Reynolds’ real-life diagnosis and how she has continued to search for new treatments to inform James about.
Although Parkinson’s disease currently has no cure, there are medications and treatments can help those manage symptoms and improve quality of life. The condition progresses at a different pace from individual to individual.
As discussed in his conversation with ET, Reynolds cited Michael J. Fox and Alan Alda as two high-profile celebrities who have brought awareness to the disease.

Photo: JPI
In story on DAYS, Abe in recent weeks had been experiencing tremors which led to seek help and a diagnosis Dr. Kayla Johnson (Mary Beth Evans). Soon Abe and others will find out of his battle with Parkinson’s. Although on the promo for this week’s DAYS, Abe is seen telling Kayla, that he will do something, “when the time is right.”
James Reynolds is one of the most prolific performers, being the longest-running Black Actor in a role on a television series, not to mention his aforementioned Lead Actor Daytime Emmy win in 2018, and being inducted in 2025 into the Daytime Emmy Gold and Silver Society of honorees.
You can check out James’ in-depth conversation on his Parkinson’s diagnosis below.
Share your thoughts for James after learning of his health battle, and what do you think of Days of our Lives incorporating the disease into Abe Carver’s Salem storyline? Let us know in the comment section.
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